Tuesday, August 31, 2010

I'm home

70.4 mph avg. speed is hardly accurate...damn LA traffic and city streets along the way messed that up

After 1,205 miles, driving 17 hours and 52 minutes over 2 days I'm home. How does it feel? Great.

Immediately, here are my observations in the first few days...

This has yet to be proven as "difficult" as one would expect for uprooting a life and moving away from a place and a life established over 9 years. Maybe that answers whether I think I made the "right" decision in leaving California. Maybe it hints at what my ultimate decision will be, as well.

I love the weather. The drive up provided fantastic weather and a stop in Portland was a perfect PNW summer day. Sunday, however, it was a typical PNW fall day (on August 29th...go figure) but I loved it. Light jacket, jeans, hat on an overcast and windy day...I'll take that any day. Today it's cold and raining and I couldn't care less; I'm loving it.  It might get old and I might miss 80-degree days being the norm but right now I can't get enough.

It is so much f*cking cleaner up here it's sick. No trash on the sides of the road, no graffiti, no beat-to-hell roads, no '83 Datsun pickups piled 6' high with recyclables or junk, the sky is blue, the air clean...I could go on and on but you get the point.

People drive faster than I remember, which is a good thing. Everyone in SoCal drives like a bat out of hell and you just sort of go with the speedy flow of traffic and it always seems like people do that up here but at 60-65mph. Well, it would seem that a lot of CA transplants have spread the speeding gospel and the WA folk are eating it up and seeing that the grass really is greener the faster you drive. Win.

Tortillas are not found at every restaurant. Muy bueno.

My packing several pairs of sandals is laughable as is the thin selection of long-sleeved items I've amassed in SoCal.

I miss Brisbane.

I miss the ocean.

I feel like a kid again.

More thoughts later...

Thursday, August 26, 2010

I'm taking my talents to Seattle

So, tomorrow I'm leaving California. I'm putting all my stuff in storage and driving North with clothes and my computers (so I can work/trade) and a whole lotta eagerness to start a new chapter in my life both personally and professionally. Right now it's not a permanent move but I also know it's not a guarantee that I'll be moving back to SoCal. I'll spend the next few months unwinding and spending some quality time with my family who I've been away from for 15 years now and just figuring out where I want to hang my hat. I'm lucky in this regard as I can be anywhere in the world doing my job so I truly can follow my heart and be anywhere and everywhere I want or need to be.

Through my efforts in trading I've arrived on the stage and been handed the metaphorical diploma that states that I've become a trading samurai and it's time for me to unleash that knowledge and skill in the markets and really see what this thing can do, not just trade sporadically or when I feel like it as I do now. I liken the last 2 years of my life to becoming a fighter pilot who 2 years ago knew only the basic concepts of flight (you need lift, propulsion, and some other stuff, right?) and now has the knowledge and the skill to fly the most technologically advanced and effective aircraft ever created; a knowledge and skill that's only been bestowed upon less than 200 others. Really cool shit...

Personally? Well, this is maybe just as exciting a time as it is professionally; possibly more so. The last month or so has been spent focusing on ME and my desires, my wants, my needs and re-discovering the "real" me that's always been inside and I've shared a great deal of with the world...but always held back in some way. Maybe it was because I was afraid of what others might think, I sacrificed my needs/desires or aspects of my personality to make others happy or I was just too scared to really put myself out there. Well, those days are gone. I've been living my life recently, being myself and it feels great.

Maybe what's more exciting is what living my life and sending all this crazy energy and intentions out there has given me. Friends I'd lost track of have found me, I'm in great shape, I'm eating healthy, strangers laugh at my jokes, I get good parking spots, the lines are shorter at In-n-Out; the important stuff. Basically, I'm getting back what I'm putting out there and that's A LOT.

There's this energy that's flowing through me right now that's hard to explain. Most nights, I'm sleeping about 3-4 hours yet I wake up at 5:30 to start making the donuts and I'm wired; I can't spend the energy fast enough to wear me out. Not that it's really a bad thing, mind you. I've been working out a ton, doing more yoga, running, surfing and whatever activities I can find that are better uses of my time than sitting around doing nothing. As a result I'm in the best shape of my life. I never would have thought at 33 I'd be stronger and in better shape than I was when I was throwing trash for my Dad every summer through HS and college. I ran 10 miles the other day and my previous best was maybe 5-6 with breaks thrown in to save me from collapse; usually it's 1.5. I repeated the feat, but faster, 2 days later. My next goal is to try a 1/2 marathon; why not. Last week I logged over 30 miles which probably was my total for the last 2 months. I'm writing a lot, I'm connecting with people, I'm listening to music constantly--some new, some old--, I'm inspired, excited and just going with the flow; doing what feels right and what I want. I'm not forcing anything; I'm just being me and putting my trust out there that what happens, happens, be it good or bad. I'm accepting of my faults, my shortcomings and can laugh at myself and just be OK with being who I am, whoever that is. Shit, gang, it feels incredible and I'm really stoked to be me.

Basically, right now, this is a pretty incredible time to know me. If you don't know me I encourage you to do what you can to learn more; it's not boring, that's for sure. I think if I could take a version of myself and put it in a time capsule or something I'd take the version that's writing this blog entry. It's really gratifying and exciting to know that I'm hitting my stride in so many ways and that each day gets better and there's so much out there for me right now.

So you'll see a lot on here from me over the next few months I'm in Seattle as I attempt to document my life and my journey as best I can and share all this excitement that is my life; the life I want.

I'll see ya in Seattle...

Bryan, bmills, Killah B, Bry, B, Mills, Buzz or whatever else you may call me

Friday, August 20, 2010

Foodspotting gets the 2.0 moniker and is better than ever


A while back I told you about Foodspotting. Do you remember that post? OK, well here's your bullet points:
  • You take photos of a specific food/dish at a restaurant
  • You upload those photos to the Foodspotting site along with a little description of the food, if you're feeling randy
  • People can then look for foods around them or at specific restaurants and see photos of the yummy food you just snapped a photo of
They came out with an iPhone app a few months ago and it was OK, but it was buggy and lacked a lot of functionality and features you'd expect. Well, 3 days ago they came out with version 2.0 of both the site and the iPhone app and both are bad-ass improvements.

I loved the site and the concept before, now I'm shopping for the ring. It's such a great idea and the way it integrates with iPhone (Android, soon) Twitter and Facebook are extremely well executed. It's insanely fun to look at some of the dishes around the world and search for dishes that have been spotted near you; I've searched out dishes and restaurants from photos on the site and am glad I did; the photos really did them justice. I've bookmarked foods from all over the place to try when I'm anywhere near them and the guides provided by foodspotters, famous chefs and so forth for various cities really give you a chance to find not only the restaurants you should visit but see photos of the dishes that these people recommend. Sofa King cool.

So if you have iPhone you have no excuse to not use this app (it's free) and even if you don't there's no reason you shouldn't become a foodspotter and snap photos of your food and share them with the rest of the world, especially if you're visiting a place that's not yet known to the Foodspotting community.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Run, Bryan, run!

Yesterday I leashed up the dog and decided that we'd go for a walk and parlay that into a run. The sun was out, I wanted some exercise, I just bought some really comfy running shoes and it just seemed like the perfect combination to take my 1st outdoor run in a long time.

So, we headed out and we walked the 1st mile so Brisbane could mark all the trees and bushes he'd marked 8 hours earlier on our morning walk and do his big business (always 2 if you're going more than like 1/2 a mile) and after he dropped the last of his cargo we started running...and running...and running. Before I realized it we had run from home down 17th Street, beyond Huntington Street along the boardwalk down by the beach; a giant 5 mile rhombus missing the 4th side, though I'm a horrible guesser of any distance, weight, height or anything, really, so I had no idea if we were 5 miles along, 2 or 10. The dog was exhausted yet I really didn't feel that bad. I wasn't setting landspeed records but I was still probably running an 8:30-9-minute pace, passing most others running but still getting passed every now and then. I would have gone further but I knew that the dog was not gonna be a happy camper so we turned around and ran back.

It felt incredible. We got back to the house and I still felt I could go further though the dog didn't make it 10' into the house before he passed out on the cool stone floor with his tongue completely out of his control as he tried to bite my hand or lick it (could go either way).

I've no clue if I can do that again, if it's the beginning of daily 10 mile runs or more or what the heck was going on. I do know this was crazy for several reasons:

1. I'm not a runner. I try and most times I don't make it that far, which is to say that I can go about a mile or mile and a half before I feel like collapsing.
2. The previous furthest distance I'd ever run was just about 6 miles, though it was broken into a few legs of running with rest in there to prevent my face from meeting the ground as I collapsed in agony
3. In the previous 48 hours I'd slept 7 hours. Don't ask; I have no idea why I can't sleep after doing tons of exercise and eating healthy for weeks on end...at least I'm looking good.

WTF??


Dood...I'm done...leave me alone...

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

YouTube Tuesday: Pure Stoke

This is pure stoke and it must have taken them a ton of time to put together, but I think we can all agree it was well worth the effort...

Sunday, August 15, 2010

I'm back...sort of

WOW. April 19th? That's the last time I've posted anything here? That's not good. Not going to make any excuses, but if I were, here's what I'd say.

It's been a crazy last 3+ months here...like Britney Spears shaving her head crazy. Big changes happening right now in our Hero's life but all GOOD stuff. First off, I'm single. Yeah, what are ya gonna do. I was pretty bummed out at first but now that I've had time to think about it I'm not only OK with it I think it was/is the best thing for me and I've got a level of clarity, freedom and focus now that I've lacked maybe my entire life. I can't really explain it but I know what I want now, I know what makes me happy, what inspires me, what matters in my life; shit that I'd neglected or just not expressed fully in 33 years. It's not all from this breakup but through that event I've spent a lot of time evaluating everything in my life and identifying things that I've sacrificed for a LONG time, things I've lost touch with about myself and I just had one of those "a-ha" moments where I could go back and look at failed relationships, failed business ventures, friendships, missed opportunities and so forth and truly identify who I am, who I'm not and what I want. So needless to say, I'm pretty happy right now; maybe the happiest I've ever been. It sucks that it took the loss of a relationship and a couple years of real adversity in so many aspects of my life to get there but maybe that was the ONLY way I was ever going to get there, ya know?

Second, I sort of have a business partner I'm working with. He's more of a sponsor and I'll be trading on his behalf but we nonetheless view the relationship as a business venture which is awesome. My mentor Bill finally completed his opus Sentinel and is releasing the software any day now which is where my partner comes in. He'd like to use the software for his own trading account but would like to leverage my knowledge and skills and ability to actually perform the trades on his behalf. So, it's gonna work out famously as we're both bringing a very important piece of the puzzle to the table and without each other it's unlikely that we'd individually be able to achieve the success that's possible from the two of us working together. I'm really excited about working with him and using this new software that is quite possibly the most effective trading software/system that's ever been developed and it's only being marketed to myself and less than 200 other traders who are students of my mentor and his methodology. It feels very empowering to be a part of such a small, focused group of traders that are doing things that nobody ever thought were possible and proving the skeptics wrong each and every day.

Finally, a change of scenery. As I type this I'm giving Huntington Beach it's 2-week notice that I'm Audi 5000 as I head back to Seattle for a couple months. Right now, I don't think it's a permanent move but I'm also going to spend the next couple months up there taking stock of everything and figuring out what's important to me and if moving back to SoCal is the right thing for me or not. I'm really excited about this move. I'll be spending time with my sister, Mom and the rest of my family up there who I've not lived near for 15 years now. I'll also be reconnecting with high school friends and experiencing, as an adult, one of my favorite cities which is really exciting. I'm sure I'll miss being here in SoCal but I've been really jaded as of late and it's good I'm leaving now before I start to hate it which is never a good thing.

So there ya go. I'm gonna try and post humor, writing, links, music, food, everything I love about life and the Internets on a more regular basis and try to make your day more enjoyable if only for a couple minutes :)

Until next time...hopefully sooner than 3 months...